


Regular People

by zombiesbecrazy



Series: Pivot Points and Bridging Gaps [4]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 17:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11879340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiesbecrazy/pseuds/zombiesbecrazy
Summary: All sorts of people can enjoy a good sunrise over the city after a long night.  Why should heroes of Gotham be any different?





	Regular People

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during Rebirth, but it pulls from pre New 52 continuity... I guess? Comic timelines are hard ;)

Robert Lee looked up and smiled.

It was just before five in the morning and he was walking to work, just as he did every day.  Even though he lived quite a way out of the downtown core he knew that it had been a rough night in the city.  He had seen some highlights on the TV while he drank his coffee, and even now he could still hear the sirens in the distance. There had been a big throw down on the East Side last night. Riddler or Joker or some other psycho did something that hurt a lot of people.  Or was going to hurt a lot of people.  Or something.

Sometimes when you live in Gotham you can lose track of which villain is doing what and why. You just always have to assume that there is something going on and to be prepared.

Robert kept a gas mask in his bag, just in case.

Seeing a few heroes together was pretty commonplace and over the years he had witnessed all sorts of team ups. The regular Batman and Robin. The shorter Batman and Robin. Nightwing and Red Robin. Batgirl and Black Canary. Red Hood and Catwoman, though even Robert thought that one was a little weird. However, everyone in Gotham knew that if you saw more than five vigilantes together that things were probably bad.  Very bad.  But they also knew that those caped crazies were going to do everything they could to keep them safe.

That morning he had seen from the TV that it was one of _those_ battles, when all the masks showed up to work together. All of the Bats and Birds as local television stations liked to call them.  He wondered what the group called themselves privately, like the Church of the Sacred Bat or something equally weird.

On early mornings after such an event like that it wasn’t uncommon for him to see outlines of two familiar figures sitting on top of Brown Bridge, watching the sun come up together. It was this that made him smile because he knew that it meant the city had to be safe, at least for now.

Nightwing and Batgirl only went up there after a battle was done and Gotham was safe again.

The location made sense in Robert’s mind. Nightwing now worked out of Bludhaven to the south and Batgirl seemed to be stationed in Burnside or Sommerset from what he could tell from the internet sightings.  While definitely closer to Burnside, the bridge was sort of half way between the two.

Though the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had been seeing them on the bridge far longer than that. 

Early on, when he first started the morning crew shift, he use to see Batgirl up there with Robin after a long night, her red hair and his yellow cape flying around in the wind. Robin gave way to Nightwing over time, and now Robert could no longer count how many times he had seen them up there, having a moment of calm after what was probably a long night.  He had seen them sit close together. Far apart. Having what looked like heated arguments, chatting amicably or sitting in content silence. There had been a few years where he had seen Nightwing there by himself and it made Robert sad to see him sitting there solo, until one day Batgirl was back with him.  Robert had felt like he was able to release a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. They were sitting closer than ever that day and it looked like Nightwing had his arms wrapped tight around her.

Once he thought he saw them kiss and part of him wanted to applaud but stopped himself before he spoiled the moment. It was a very private moment he was trespassing on, after all.

As he approached the foot of the bridge, he gazed up and saw them watching him, as they sometimes did.  So he waved.

They waved back, as usual. They were sitting very close today. He hoped that they were happy. They looked it right now.

He had never mentioned these sightings to anyone, not even his wife.   It felt like something secret and personal and not really anyone else’s business. What those heroes did in their downtime was their own prerogative and they deserved a bit of peace after a long night. He could give them that after all they did for him and the rest of the city.

Robert smiled and continued on his way to work.  It was a good morning.

***

Dick and Barbara sat with their coffees on the beam over Brown Bridge, legs dangling beneath them. It was something of a tradition that they had been doing since they were kids after a long battle. As a young Batgirl and Robin this point was the farthest they were allowed to go from the cave while still being ‘in bounds’ according to Batman’s rules. It was far enough away that they felt independent but close enough that if something were to happen, they could make it to the closest safehouse. Now, it was pretty much halfway between their homes and it gave them the perfect place to catch up before calling it a night.

“I’m going to need some ice later,” groaned Barbara. She kept flexing and extending her left knee gingerly.  She had tweaked it when she kicked one of the Talons during the fight; she hadn’t noticed then but it was protesting a lot now. “I really hate The Court of Owls.”

Dick gave a little smirk, “I’m starting to get the impression that they don’t like us too much either.”

“I think they might like you a little too much.” Barbara eyed Dick carefully but he pretended to ignore her comment. She knew he didn’t like talking about his connection to the Court and thankfully she pivoted the conversation. “That’s going to leave a mark.” She pointed to Dick’s jaw and he moved it slowly and grimacing at the large crack the joint made. 

He raised his hand and touched it, wincing slightly. “It’s a good thing that a girl I once knew taught me how to use concealer so that I can stay pretty even after getting my ass handed to me.”

“We both know that Bruce is better at makeup than me and he taught you the secret art of contouring way before it became cool.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes and watched the city start to come alive as the sun began to light up the sky.  It was one of Dick’s favourite things to do; watch the sunrise from up high and just bask in the simple sense of calm post fight with Barbara at his side.

Seeing a familiar sight below, Dick set his coffee down beside him. “Hey, Babs. Look.”

“Is it Robert?  I haven’t seen him in ages.” Barbara turned her head to the direction that she knew he would be coming from and a smile broke out over her face when she spotted him on the dark sidewalk below.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve been here on a weekday.” Robert was a morning person, with an unusual spring in his step for a time of day that most people were still asleep. There was a little more grey in his hair than last time Dick had seen him, but he looked fit and happy. “He looks good. I hope he’s doing alright. His wife wasn’t doing well last time I checked.”

Barbara nodded, “I checked her hospital files. She’s in remission. All signs are good.”

“That’s great news.” Dick poked Barbara in the side, “Stop hacking hospitals, Oracle.” But he was glad that she had. It was probably strange that they knew so much about a man they had never met and didn’t have any ties to Gotham baddies. In all ways, he was just a regular man. But he was _their_ regular man and they had to make sure he was alright.

The regular people were the whole point of their irregular night jobs.

“It was important,” she said unapologetically and then took a long sip of her coffee, “He’s our friend.”

“A friend that we’ve never spoken to. Or seen at street level.”

“He’s a friend that keeps our secret spot a secret. Has for years. As far as I can tell, he’s never said a word to anyone.” Barbara nudged his leg a bit with her own and he smiled back. “He’s watched us grow up, Boy Wonder.”

Dick eyes grew large at the thought of what that must have looked like from Robert’s point of view, the things he could have seen between them. “Do you think he knows that Robin grew up to be Nightwing?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Barbara reached over and messed up Dick’s hair, “Everybody knows that. Worst kept secret in Gotham.”

Dick wondered what other secrets the man knows about them from just a few glances over the years, besides codenames and hair colour. Not real identities, obviously, but does he know how much they mean to each other? How much it hurt when Barbara couldn’t join him up here? How he’s glad that she’s back in the field but terrified that something will happen to her again? How he’s head over heels in love with her but they could never get the timing right?

He sighed to himself. That’s probably the second worst kept secret in Gotham.

Dick leaned over a little so that his shoulder touched Barbara’s, placed his hand on hers and smiled as she squeezed back.  He could see the small grin on her face as well.

Robert looked up as he crossed underneath and waved in greeting.

They waved back, smiling, still holding hands.

This was a good morning.


End file.
